That Taste On My Lips
by nerdforsale
Summary: Eridan is on the swim team. When he stays after for some extra practice, he finds something unexpected: at the bottom of the pool. EriKar, AUstuck, Humor, Cute, Warning for Language.
1. Chapter 1

o-okay uhm so my friend ax bullied me into writing erikar and so i had this really cute au idea HIGH SCHOOLSTUCK where eridan is on the swim team and yeah. it's cute. i'm planning to hopefully write another chapter at some point...

a-anyway enjoy

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><p>It wasn't the smell of the room that he disliked, or the humid air or the wet slick floors that just felt sort of slimy under his bare free as he walked along. When he leapt into the pool it wasn't the warmth of the water or the chemicals that sometimes burned his eyes if he didn't wear his goggles.<p>

It was the taste. You weren't supposed to drink the pool water, naturally, but sometimes it happened and you just couldn't help that. But it stayed on your lips, a salty residue that simply soaked into your skin, and he found himself spending a lot more time in the shower rooms sometimes than most probably needed to.

Eridan Ampora was a name synonymous with the swim team. He was the son of a man who had trained for Olympic swimming and now coached the high school swimming team. Swimming was his life, and he was determined to impress his own dream on Eridan, who, while good at swimming, preferred to read fantasy stories and write poetry (though he would never admit to either).

What could he do though but play the good son as his father lived vicariously through him. He didn't like it, and often times he cried because of the intense training he was forced to do; he used to cry more, in front of his father, but he learned quite quickly to resist it and save his emotions for later, in writing or in his pillow.

It was hard being the coach's son, and nobody really understood. They thought he was prissy, spoiled, that he had it better than everyone else. The swim coach made special preparations with the school so that Eridan had extra time to go and practice in the pool, he was given exceptions to rules, treated differently because of his father's position, and in turn was treated differently by students because he was _different. _

It was more than just dirty looks. People made straight up assumptions about him, they didn't want to associate with him, and some of the few people who did only wanted to hang around him to get something from him. His father was made of money, not him.

These were things that crossed his mind as he stood in the locker room, the warm water of shower running over him. His hair fell around his face and stuck to his cheeks, a streak of purple hair clinging to the bridge of his nose as he lifted his head. He finally turned the water off, the tips of his fingers pruned, and he ran his hand through his hair as he moved back to the lockers to get dressed and fetch his things.

Drying and dressing, he sighed and slung his bag over his shoulder, slipping into his shoes and heading for the pool area. He hesitated at the door when he heard a large splash and quickly stepped out onto the slick tile floor.

The surface of the pool was rippling violently and as he headed to the edge he could see a dark shape floating to the bottom of the deep end. Tossing his bag off to the side, he kicked off his shoes and threw his glasses to the side before taking a swift dive into the water.

Through the slight haze of light and water, he could see a person gradually floating down. Their long sleeved black shirt was drifting up slightly in the water, their body wriggling a little, eyes closed shut. Without a second thought Eridan shot towards the other, wrapping his arms around them, and began to haul them to the surface. There were the stairs and he struggled somewhat with getting the other up and out of the pool; he was a swimmer, scrawny and made for speed in the water, he wasn't exactly a physically strong person in general.

Once he had brought the other up onto the tile, he could see now that it was a boy, dark shaggy hair, it was lucky he was a bit on the scrawny side or Eridan would have had a much harder time getting him out of the pool. Another thing that was apparent was that the boy wasn't responding. Wasn't this one of those times when you did that whole CPR thing? How did you even do that? Eridan stared for a moment, slightly panic stricken, before he leaned in and opened the boy's mouth, bringing his own to touch his.

Eridan wasn't sure what he was doing. He breathed into the boy's mouth, he put his fingers on the bridge of the other's nose, hell he even stuck his tongue in the boy's mouth.

And perhaps he was doing the entire process wrong… but it seemed to work, whatever he was doing, because the boy started and sputtered, pushing Eridan away and turning over to cough and hack. Eridan straightened up, staring, relieved, at the other boy.

"fuck thank god youre alright i thought you wwere a goner."

The boy, still hacking and coughing, looked over at Eridan, covering his mouth with his wet sleeve, and meanwhile giving him the meanest, bloodshot eyed glare that Eridan had ever seen.

"WHAT THE FUCK, YOU DO NOT JUST FUCKING STICK YOUR TONGUE DOWN OTHER PEOPLES GULLETS," the boy shouted between coughing and wheezing. Eridan blinked and winced.

"i-im sorry, ivve nevver done cpr before i just thou—"

"WELL LEARN JACKASS. I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS JUST VIOLATED AFTER ALMOST DROWNING…"

"wwell you could at least fuckin say thank you"

Eridan furrowed his brows, staring at the other boy as he glared back. The other seemed to be contemplating the notion, like he was judging whether it was worth it or not to show any sort of gratitude. Narrowing his eyes, the boy finally huffed and leaned forwards a little, glancing up at Eridan.

"THANKS." It was reluctant but at least it was something. Eridan frowned a little and shook his head, standing up and offering his hand out to the other boy.

"wwhat wwere you doin in here anywway skippin an wwhistlin dixie" He rolled his eyes. "i think you wwin the prize for first person to evver fall in the pool youre lucky i wwas here"

"I WAS JUST LOOKING AROUND, FUCK. IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH THAT? BEING CURIOUS OF WHAT THIS PIECE OF SHIT SCHOOL LOOKS LIKE? I CAN'T BE CURIOUS?" He did take the hand that was offered to him, however, and got to his feet. His clothes stuck to his body and he looked down at the limp fabric in disgust, grumbling to himself.

Eridan eyed the other a moment.

"if you wwant" he began, uncertain if he should really even be offering - for someone who almost just drown, he wasn't very thankful for being saved, "theres a dryer thing in the lockers you can stick your clothes in an yknoww dry them"

The other boy glanced up sharply.

"j-just a thought" Eridan added quickly. There was a moment of silence before the other boy scowled and motioned to Eridan.

"WELL LEAD THE WAY ALREADY, I'M FREEZING HERE."

The two walked around the perimeter of the pool to the other side, Eridan grabbing his things and pulling his glasses back on before leading the way inside the locker room. It was warmer and it didn't smell so strongly of chlorine. However, Eridan did, he was going to need another shower it seemed. Though for some reason his lips didn't quite taste like chemicals this time around.

"its just ovver here" Eridan motioned for Karkat to follow, the two leaving wet footprints in their wake. "by the wway wwhats your name"

The other boy perked up a little, glancing reluctantly up at the swimmer with a frown.

"KARKAT. I ASSUME YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME WHAT YOUR NAME IS EVEN IF I DON'T ASK AND EVEN IF I DON'T CARE?"

The swimmer glanced over with a frown and decided, instead, not to answer, leading the other the rest of the way in silence. He pointed to the machine, a box with a cylindrical hole in the center, like a very tiny washing machine.

"just put your wwet clothes in there an itll dry" Eridan moved away, running his hand through his hair with a small sigh. "though i dont really havve any clothes for you to borroww in the meantime so" He pulled his own shit off. "youll havve to deal"

Karkat, meanwhile, was staring after the other, eyes wide.

"DON'T JUST FUCKING _STRIP_ IN FRONT OF ME! WHAT THE FUCK MAN?"

Eridan huffed and glanced over at the other, eyebrows knitted together. This guy had such a bad attitude.

"its just my shirt calm dowwn im goin into the showwer anywway you dont havve to see shit"

He pulled his towel out of his bag and tossed it at Karkat, sitting down on the bench and proceeding to take off his wet socks.

"get your clothes dry so i can do mine i dont wwanna be wwaitin here all day"

Scowling, Karkat copied the other boy's action, pulling off his shirt then sitting to take his shoes and socks off; not much to be done about his shoes. He glanced over at Eridan, who was putting his clothes into a little pile on the bench. When the swimmer looked over, Karkat was quick to hide his face in the towel he'd been given, drying his hair and stopping to run his hand through it. It was gross and greasy from pool water. He didn't notice Eridan watching him picking at the clumps of chemical ridden hair.

"if you wwant the showwers are free to use an if youre nice ill let you borroww my soap"

Karkat turned swiftly to glare at the other.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR SOAP." He stopped, realizing the harshness in his voice, and added, "I CAN JUST RINSE OFF IN THE SHOWER. …THANKS THOUGH."

Eridan paused, watching the other boy for a moment longer before standing with his wet clothes and moving over to the dryer. He put them in, and held out his hand to Karkat to take the other's clothes. There was a brief moment of hesitation before Karkat finally slapped the wet bundle into Eridan's palm and stood up, heading for the showers while their clothes were put in to dry.

"wwait"

Karkat stopped and looked back.

"WHAT?"

Raising a brow, Eridan motioned to the other with a nod of his head.

"wwhat about your pants"

Color rose in Karkat's face and his eyes widened, eyebrows raising.

"EXCUSE ME? AREN'T YOU MOVING A BIT FUCKING FAST HERE? I MEAN, FUCK, YOU SAVED ME FROM DYING, THAT DOESN'T MEAN I OWE YOU A LOOK AT MY JUNK YOU CREEP."

"i dont wwant to look at your 'junk' but either wway youre going to be pantless at some point might as wwell do it wwhile youre in the showwer so you dont have to sit here with me fuckin pantless because theyre in the dryer" Eridan rolled his eyes. They were in a locker room, guys got naked in front of one another all the time; being a swimmer, he saw _a lot. _

Karkat stared for a moment before cursing and moving around to hide behind the wall of the showers. He came back a moment later, towel around his waist, and his pants in hand, jerking his arm toward Eridan and looking off to the side. He hurried away after and Eridan sighed and put Karkat's and his own pants away in with the rest of the clothes and set them off to dry. He moved into the showers, noticing Karkat's shape through the steamed glass stall, and the swimmer decided to stand just beside it, turning on one of the shower heads in the more open area of the room.

There was awkward silence, the only noise being the running of water, tiny _splish_ing of feet in puddles on the tile, and there was a little noise from Karkat. Eridan looked over, raising a brow at the hand that was poking out of the stall.

"….CAN I BORROW YOUR SOAP?"

"wwhat do you say first"

"FUCK. I MEAN, PLEASE."

Eridan handed the bottle over, adding, "dont slip" before going back to his shower. However it wasn't long after that there was some crashing and swearing from inside the stall. The swimmer looked over swiftly, seeing a foot sticking out from under the stall divider and he hurried over, pulling the curtain open in one swift motion. Karkat was sprawled across the floor, hair and body still covered in soap suds, swearing, his eyes clenched shut.

"god wwhat the fuck are you okay you are just not havvin a good day are you" He moved in, hooking his arms under Karkat's armpits, and hoisting him up to his feet - with a little difficulty, being a weakling and having soap under his feet. He helped steady Karkat but came close to slipping right after, clenching the wall and Karkat's arm at the same time to keep him on his feet.

Karkat was rubbing the tears from his eyes, _fuck_ that had hurt, and he glanced up at Eridan, whose heart was racing from nearly falling. The pair soon realized _just how close they were_,naked and covered in soap and water, and they quickly parted, looking away. Eridan hurried out of the stall and moved back to his shower head, his face burning and his hair falling down into his face again. Seemed they were both having a pretty weird day.

Once Eridan found himself finished with his shower, he turned the water off and took his towel off the wall hook, drying and wrapping it around his waist. He looked to where Karkat was standing in his stall and heard the water turn off.

"you done" Eridan asked, watching the other boy step out. Karkat didn't look at him.

"I WAS WAITING FOR YOU TO FINISH, FUCKASS."

Eridan winced and slowly followed after, stepping into the locker room and going to check the dryer. Still running. He looked over to where Karkat was sitting on a bench, arms on his thighs and looking off to the side. Eridan sat beside him, taking a similar pose, looking down at his toes.

"are you alright" Karkat didn't look over. "i mean you almost drowwn an then you fell do you feel alright should i take you to the nurse or somethin"

"NO. I'M FINE. STOP ASKING."

Eridan fell silent, wiggling his toes a little, lacing the digits together as he pondered.

Karkat's voice broke his thoughts apart.

"YOU NEVER DID TELL ME YOUR NAME."

"its eridan eridan ampora"

"ISN'T YOUR DAD ONE OF THE TEACHERS?"

The swimmer shrugged.

"yeah i guess swwim coach i wwas practicin earlier wwhich wwas wwhy i wwas here wwhen you fell in"

There was another moment of silence.

"ARE THOSE CLOTHES FINISHED DRYING YET? I'M FREEZING MY ASS OFF."

"a feww more minutes"

"FUCK… FINE."

Silence again.

"…ERIDAN, RIGHT?"

Eridan looked up, noticing Karkat had finally move a little, his gaze now positioned on Eridan's feet.

"yeah"

"THANKS FOR SAVING ME THERE. I THINK I PROBABLY… NEVERMIND. JUST THANKS."

Karkat's eyes drifted up and met Eridan's, who smiled gently. There was a beep as the dryer finished and he looked over and stood, retrieving their clothes. He handed Karkat his and took his own, moving away to start getting dressed. He didn't look while Karkat dressed himself, and only turned when the other said it was okay. After collecting his towels and packing up his stuff, they seemed ready to leave finally. As they walked out into the pool, Eridan idly walked on the interior, keeping Karkat away from the edge, heading for the exit.

Just before they opened the door, chlorine thick in the air, Eridan spoke.

"maybe ill see you around again" He glanced over at Karkat, who was finally looking at Eridan _without_ contempt. "hopefully not at the bottom of the pool though"

"HA HA, REALLY FUNNY." Karkat scoffed but it wasn't as angry as it had been earlier. He seemed to have calmed down. "YEAH, MAYBE WE'LL SEE EACH OTHER AROUND. I DUNNO, I JUST FUCKING MOVED HERE, I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE PLACES OR ANYONE HERE. FEELS FUCKING MASSIVE."

"its not so bad" Eridan shrugged. "if you wwant wwe can meet up some time an i can givve you a tour around the school you clearly need some kind of supervvision so you dont almost kill yourself again"

"FUCK YOU." Huffing, Karkat opened the door and stepped out, followed by Eridan, who stopped just outside and watched as Karkat began to stomp away. However, the angry teen stopped suddenly and he hesitated for a moment before turning around swiftly to glare at Eridan.

"…I KNOW HOW TO GET TO THE LIBRARY. I HAVE A FREE PERIOD TOMORROW BEFORE LUNCH. IF YOU WANT." He didn't wait for a response before starting off again down the hall.

Eridan watched the other's retreating figure, staring until the other finally disappeared around a corner, and then he began to walk. Well this was certainly an unexpected way to end his day; the nicest part was that his lips didn't taste like chlorine.


	2. Chapter 2

Boys and girls have their own preferred sitting arrangements during lunch time, a ritual that is upheld strictly as a rule in the society of school. It started in elementary, when children make their first moves towards other children and testing the water for what was safe and what was awkward, who was nice and who to avoid. Once finding that comfortable place, they stick to that small group, never deviating from the norm. To deviate from the norm would only occur due to a fight or perhaps someone moving away.

Sometimes, it wasn't so much that someone would leave a group but instead that someone would join one, creating an awkward imbalance. Usually, though, that was felt mostly on the side of the new person joining.

But first there was the difficulty of finding a place to sit, if you were a new kid. That was always the problem, standing at the head of the cafeteria with your lunch tray of mushy mac n cheese and chocolate milk, surveying the area for a free spot. The best option, always, is to find an empty area void of people; but in such a big school, that was not an easy feat.

This was the difficulty that Karkat was having, eying the cafeteria full of strangers, his fingers gripping his lunch tray firmly. His feet were planted, his shoulders stiff, and he continued to glance around awkwardly. He felt millions of eyes on him, every whisper or giggle could only be the other kids talking about him just standing there.

Finally, he turned, looking away from the rest of the room. He would just ask if he could eat in the hallway again. That would solve all of his problems, right?

As he turned the corner to head for the doors out of the cafeteria, he nearly bumped into someone. The girl let out a little gasp, backing up quickly so as not to bump into Karkat's lunch tray, and she looked up at him with big, bright blue eyes, long black hair curling around her shoulders.

"O)(! I'm sorry!" she apologized quickly, stepping towards him to make sure nothing had spilled on his tray. Karkat hesitated, leaning away from her a little.

"UH, WHATEVER, NOTHING SPILLED," he managed, glancing at her warily. She was leaning in closer, and Karkat could see the tiny specks of glitter that speckled her freckled cheeks, her thick black mascara, lip gloss shimmering as she pursed her lips and looked up at him.

"You're new, aren't you?" she asked, smiling.

Karkat nodded stiffly.

"WHAT'S IT TO YOU?" he asked, glancing to the side. The girl just smiled and gestured to him.

"Are you looking for somew)(ere to sit? You can come over and sit wit)( us if you'd like! We )(ave a free seat."

A seat? Karkat looked back to the crowded cafeteria, shifting his grip a little on the tray. He looked back to the girl, a small frown on his face.

"ARE YOU SURE... IT'S, UH, PRETTY FUCKING CROWDED OUT THERE, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ROOM FOR ME."

The girl grinned and shook her head.

"NONS-ENS-E! Come on, follow me!" She beckoned to him and headed into the fray and Karkat glanced at his plate before sighing and following after her. Well, it was better than nothing...

They gradually approached the table, the girl setting her hands on the table top once they'd arrived.

")(-EY! I've broug)(t someone along wit)( me, I )(ope you guys don't mind. )(e didn't )(ave anyw)(ere else to sit." She settled down and beckoned for Karkat to sit, without really bothering to wait for permission from her friends. Karkat was hesitant, keeping his gaze to the side, until he heard his name.

"karkat?"

The boy looked up at the teens sitting at the table, and there was Eridan, settled in front of a boy in a Daft Punk tshirt and tinted glasses.

"that wwas your name right" Eridan asked. "karkat?"

"UH, YEAH, THAT'S MY NAME. WOW." Karkat set his tray down on the table. "I GUESS LONG TIME NO SEE."

"2o you two know each other, that'2 great. you wanna introduce your2elf 2o we know?"

Eridan looked over and huffed softly.

"givve him a chance sol i mean he only just got here let him fuckin sit dowwn at least"

Karkat sat down beside Eridan, glancing at the other for a moment then looking at the two across from him.

"WELL, ERIDAN'S KIND OF ALREADY INTRODUCED ME. WHO ARE YOU?"

The girl grinned and piped up.

"My name is F-EF-ERI! And t)(is is Sollux!" Feferi rested her elbows on the table and looked between the two boys sitting across from her. ")(ow do you two know eac)( ot)(er? I've never seen you toget)(er. Do you )(ave a class toget)(er or somet)(ing?"

Eridan shook his head.

"i savved him from drowwnin in the pool. remember i told you about that the kid wwho wwas stupid enough to come runnin into the pool area and slipped"

"FUCK YOU. I WASN'T BEING STUPID, I JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW SLIPPERY IT WAS IN THERE. I CAN'T FUCKING HELP THAT MY FEET SLID OUT FROM UNDER ME." Karkat frowned, eying Eridan out of the corner of his eye. The other boy, however, just shrugged and took a drink from his water bottle. The table in front of him was strangly devoid of food considering it was lunch time.

"2o you're the one fuckface 2aved from drowniing," Sollux commented, tilting his head and smirking at Karkat. "he wouldn't 2top braggiing about iit for liike, a week. iit wa2 a liittle riidiiculou2 ii have two 2ay."

"he wwould havve died if i hadnt savved him you knoww so shut the fuck up"

"whatever ii'm ju2t glad you 2hut up about iit."

"So! You're new )(ere rig)(t?"

Feferi smiled at Karkat, having an easy time of deflecting the current conversation and turning it to something else. Eridan and Sollux both quieted down and went back to their respective lunches.

"YEAH. I'M NEW. JUST MOVED HERE. THIS PLACE IS FUCKING MONSTROUS, I CAN'T FIND MY WAY AROUND ANYWHERE, IT'S ABSURD." Karkat lightly poked at his food with his fork. "GUESS IT'S OKAY HERE."

"iit'2 a 2hiithole, don't let them fool you man." Sollux took a bite of food, withdrawing his fork from his mouth and waving it in the air a little. "once you're here for about a month you'll realize ju2t how 2hiitty iit ii2 here, tru2t me."

Feferi rolled her eyes a little.

"Sollux, don't be such a SOUR PUSS! I'm sure )(e'll reely enjoy )(imself )(ere. I mean, )(e's already made a bunc)( of friends!"

Karkat glanced up, raising a brow.

"I ACTUALLY HAVEN'T," he corrected her. "I'VE BASICALLY TALKED TO NO ONE SINCE I'VE COME HERE. EXCEPT MAYBE ERIDAN," he glanced over at the swimmer, who looked up from his bottle of water, "BUT THAT WASN'T REALLY BY CHOICE."

"hey" Eridan frowned.

"ii don't think there are many people who would talk two er wiilliingly," Sollux commented with a shrug. Eridan looked over at the other and scowled.

"wwhat the fuck is that supposed to mean" he asked, glaring. "go fuck yourself sol"

"you really want two get iintwo thii2 wiith me right now er?" Sollux asked warningly, narrowing his eyes at the other behind his tinted glasses. He watched the swimmer across from him stand up and dig the heels of his palms into the table, looking ready to fight.

Feferi, however, was going to have none of it. She frowned deeply and stood up, moving over to stand behind Sollux and lean in around him to face Eridan, their noses nearly touching.

"None of t)(is, -Eridan. Do you reely want to get suspended for fig)(ting? It's stupid. Sit down."

Karkat watched the trio curiously. They were an odd dynamic, there clearly being hostility between Eridan and Sollux, Feferi seemed to be used to mediating though she didn't like it. However, Karkat didn't say anything, just observed out of the corner of his eye and picked at his food a little.

There was a brief moment of tension before Eridan huffed and stepped away from the table, grabbing his water bottle and leaving. Feferi blinked and straightened, watching the boy heading around and off to the double doors leading to the hallway. She frowned, staring after the other for a moment, then sighed and sat back down, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her cheek in her hand. Sollux just glanced to the side, idly taking a drink from his milk carton.

"…DOES THIS SORT OF SHIT HAPPEN OFTEN?" Karkat piped up, glancing between the remaining pair. Feferi looked over and she gave him a weak smile.

However, Sollux replied first.

"yeah he'2 almo2t alway2 a huge douchebag."

Feferi gave the boy a small smack in the arm.

"Only sometimes," she corrected then looked at Karkat. "–Eridan's just under a lot of stress. )(is dad is )(ard on )(im."

Being the son of the swim coach probably didn't make for an easy time. Karkat could only imagine the expectations his dad had for him.

The rest of lunch went by fairly smoothly but Eridan never did return. Unconsciously, Karkat kept an eye out for the swimmer, wondering where he had gone and if he would possibly bump into him somewhere in the hall. It wasn't until the end of the day that Karkat finally saw the boy, unsurprisingly heading for the pool. Eridan had his duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a towel draped around his neck, heading down the hall in sandals. Karkat thought about following but instead headed across the hall and to the doors. As he opened them, he heard his name called from down the hall and looked over. Eridan had noticed him, probably looking over as he heard the heavy double doors open.

Karkat gave a weak wave but Eridan was already heading towards him and he shifted a little where he was standing, eying the swimmer closely.

"kar hey"

Eridan gave him a small smile.

"UH, HI."

What else could he say? The last he'd seen the other boy, he'd been storming off after his little girlfriend told him to chill out. It was only just a little awkward.

However, Eridan seemed well aware of that. He glanced to the side then back up at Karkat, wincing gently.

"look i just wanted to apologize" he began, running his hand through his hair. "about how I wwas during uh lunch sol just fuckin burns me up sometimes wwith howw much of an asshole he can be"

Karkat was quiet for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO I CARE? YOU WEREN'T GETTING MAD AT ME, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT IF YOU AND HIM DON'T GET ALONG. I BARELY KNOW THE GUY. FOR ALL I KNOW HE COULD BE A FUCKING ASSHOLE AND DESERVE IT. YOU COULD BE WELL JUSTIFIED."

"im not sure if i am or not" Eridan replied, shrugging. "i just" He licked his lips a little and shook his head "nevvermind. wwhatevver it doesn't matter. wwill you be sittin wwith us from noww on?"

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW. MAYBE? I GUESS? DEPENDS HOW I FEEL."

Eridan gave the other a weak smile.

"wwell" He shrugged. "if you do wwe wwill keep a seat free for you. either wway therell be a spot there for you if you ever wwant it."

Karkat glanced over, eying him, then huffed softly and nodded.

"…OKAY. I GUESS. THANKS."

He listened as the other boy explained he needed to get off to practice, and they said their good byes and parted ways.

The next day Karkat was sitting at the trio's table again, however there was no sign of Eridan.

"look2 liike he'2 2kiippiing lunch again," Sollux observed, taking a bite of his sandwich. Feferi sighed and shook her head, sipping from a Capri Sun.

Karkat raised a brow.

"AGAIN…? IS THIS SOMETHING HE DOES OFTEN?" They certainly made it sound that way. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING IF HE ISN'T EATING LUNCH?"

"Probably practicing )(is swimming," Feferi replied.

"DOESN'T HE PRACTICE ENOUGH? HE'S GOING TO WATERLOG HIMSELF IF HE KEEPS THIS SHIT UP. SERIOUSLY, HOW CAN HE BE SO HARDCORE ABOUT _SWIMMING_?"

"iif he doe2n't hii2 dad wiill get royally pii22ed at hiim. he'2 kiind of… what'2 the word ii'm lookiing for… oh right, whiipped."

Karkat huffed. How could his dad really make him practice this much? He'd met Professor Ampora, but he hadn't seemed this hardcore. Not so bad that he made his son practice during his lunch breaks as well as every day after school. It was a little ridiculous if anyone ever cared to ask his opinion.

Again, later that day, Karkat passed the pool. He didn't see Eridan in the hall, but he did hear water splashing inside. Opening the door, he looked in, noticing someone swimming across the length of the pool and getting out on the other end. Karkat stood by the doors, adjusting his backpack gently and watching as Eridan lifted himself out of the pool and stood, dripping wet and wearing only a small speedo. He unabashedly tucked his thumbs under the fabric of his speedo, pulling out the wedgie the material had given him and letting the wet swimming fabric slap against his ass cheeks. Karkat didn't have much time to look away and only glanced off to the side after the deed had been done.

Eridan, however, had no idea the other was there, and he turned around to start walking back to the diving board again, only to see the other boy standing by the doors. His eyes widened a little behind a pair of goggles and he ran a hand through his hair to get it out of his face while he pulled the goggles up to his forehead.

"kar?"

He started walking towards the other boy, still dripping wet, and he stopped rather close to the other, squinting at him; clearly he had a hard time seeing without his glasses.

"wwhat are you doin here kar dont tell me youre back to havve another swwim are you" Eridan just smiled a little at Karkat flustered and huffed.

"NO, I'M NOT HERE FOR ANOTHER 'SWIM', THANK YOU VERY MUCH." Karkat scowled and glanced over to the pool, still wavering from Eridan's motions in the water. "IS THIS ALL YOU DO? SWIM ALL DAY EVERY DAY? DON'T YOU EVEN EAT? I MEAN, YOU WEREN'T THERE DURING LUNCH. IT'S LIKE YOU JUST CONSUME WATER AND THAT'S THE ONLY NUTRIENTS YOU FUCKING GET. THAT'S ALL I'VE EVER SEEN YOU INJEST. WATER."

Eridan blinked at the other and shrugged, shaking his head.

"kar im a busy guy. i cant help it if I gotta miss lunch once in a wwhile i mean ivve got a lot a responsibilities and i gotta keep my skills sharp" He looked at Karkat. "ivve got better things to wworry about like regionals"

"REGIONALS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EATING? ERIDAN, I THINK YOU NEED TO START PRIORITIZING."

The swimmer just smiled a little and turned away, walking over to the benches where his towel and glasses were. Karkat followed, sighing. This fucking kid was impossible.

"i eat plenty okay kar dont wworry about me jeeze" Eridan glanced up after putting his glasses back on, sitting down on the bench and beginning to dry himself off. "youd think youre my mother or somethin"

Karkat sat down as well, keeping a reasonable distance from the other.

"WELL CLEARLY SHE ISN'T MAKING SURE YOU'RE EATING. FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I CAN SEE YOUR RIBS."

Eridan looked down at himself, gently touching at his chest, fingers smoothing in and out of the small dips created by his ribcage. He shrugged a little and continued to dry himself off.

"ivve alwways been thin this isnt anything neww yknoww"

"YOU ARE JUST RIDICULOUS."

"wwhatevver"

They sat for a moment in silence, Eridan rubbing at his hair to dry it while Karkat watched the surface of the pool beginning to still.

"so i wwas wwondering"

Karkat glanced over, raising a brow.

"WONDERING WHAT?"

"uh wwell" Eridan rested his towel in his lap. "maybe if youre not busy sometime this wweek wwe could maybe hang out or something i dont knoww" He looked up. "i mean i knoww im pretty busy wwith practice but i could probably skip a day if you evver wwanted to maybe like wwatch a movvie or play vvideo games or something"

The proposition took Karkat a little by surprise. Hang out? He supposed he could. He didn't really know where Eridan was pulling this all from but, hey, he seemed like an okay guy, he wasn't a freak as far as Karkat could tell so far. Feferi and Sollux were pretty nice but they were so preoccupied with each other that it got a little awkward at times. Eridan was, surprisingly, fairly down to earth. He was a nice guy.

Karkat shrugged.

"YEAH. YEAH I GUESS WE COULD. NOT LIKE I'M EVER FUCKING BUSY OR ANYTHING. EVER." Well, it was true. He didn't really do much. Eat, sleep, school, and watch TV, that was about his daily life.

"alright that sounds good to me then" Eridan replied, smiling over at the other. Karkat looked back at him, noticing how the other looked genuinely happy to hear the other agree to hanging out with him. He watched the other boy stand and pick up his things from the bench.

"wwe can talk tomorroww about wwhen wwe should hang out ivve gotta go wwipe this chlorine off before it starts to burn" He grinned sheepishly. "but ill see you tomorroww kar"

"UH." Karkat slowly nodded. "YEAH. SURE. SOUNDS GOOD."

He watched the other head off, waving, and Karkat waved back weakly. He stood once Eridan had gone in back to the locker room and from there headed out. So, they were going to hang out. Just like that. He supposed it was good. Making friends was a good thing, right?

As Karkat headed back down the hall, his hands in his pockets, he smiled a little, the scent of chlorine still lingering heavily in his nostrils.


End file.
